Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug worldwide and the pattern of usage has been steadily increasing over the past 40 years. The long-term health effects of cannabis are poorly understood, but there is increasing concern about the suggested link between modern cannabis use and psychosis or the induction of anxiety symptoms. This is why the Beckley Foundation has initiated an extensive research program investigating the effects users find beneficial, the efficacy of cannabis in medical use, and the opposite effects of the most significant compounds found in cannabis, THC and cannabidiol (CBD)
Cannabis
Cannabis in Pain and Palliative Care
The Liberal Democrat conference passed ‘Protecting Individuals and Communities from Drug Harms’ on Sunday 2oth September 2011 and is therefore now Lib Dem Party policy. You can watch the entire debate on the BBC iplayer here. It calls for the Government to “immediately establish an independent panel tasked with carrying out an Impact Assessment of [...]
“Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality…Simply stated, researchers have been unable to give animals enough marijuana to induce death…In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of [...]
A recent interview with Pierre Kopp in Le Monde called for a legalisation approach regarding cannabis sale – the economist believes that if the French government legalized and taxed cannabis in the same way as tobacco, the state would save more than €300m and receive duty worth about €1bn. Yesterday, the Guardian published the interview [...]
Wtih the influx of new modifcations on medicinal marijuana law, many people, including patients, doctors and growers are getting increasingly confused about what is actually legal in Washington State. Original text from Seattle Times, here. — Gov. Chris Gregoire’s decision to veto key parts of a bill regulating medical marijuana in Washington has left the [...]
Measures are being pushed in the city of Seattle to regulate the growth and sale of medicinal marijuana like any other business. Original text from the Seattle Times, here. — The city of Seattle plans to start taxing and licensing medical marijuana operations like any other business, in response to changes in state law that [...]
Ethan B Russo, of GW Pharmaceuticals is to undertake research into the medicinal benefits of the often overlooked chemicals in cannabis, terpenoids. From inital investigation, this special branch of cannabinoids has unique therapeutic effects, which could be used to produce medicines for a cornucopia of conditions: inflammation, depression, anxiety, addiction, epilepsy, cancer and even fungal [...]
Researchers from the Universities of Bonn and Mainz have made the remarkable discovery that the cannabinoid-1 receptor (CB1) can protect against the aging processes. Text from Kurzweil, original text here: Cannabinoids, such as THC (the active agent in Cannabis sativa) and endocannabinoids, and those formed by the body bind to the CB1 receptors. The existence [...]
A glowing review of the Beckley Foundation’s book “Cannabis Policy: Moving Beyond Stalemate” has been published in POP News (here), the newsletter for the Canadian Institute of Population and Public Health, one of 13 Institutues that comprise the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The review was written by Dr Brian P Emerson This article reflects [...]
On Wednesday 6th July, two measures that would allow the regulated legalisation of marijuana were filed in Missouri. These would treat the selling of marijuana to adults in a similar manner to that of alcohol, and allow physicians to approve the drug for medicinal purposes. According to Fred Raines, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Washington [...]
